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KMID : 0338420020170010019
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The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine
2002 Volume.17 No. 1 p.19 ~ p.23
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Sexuality and Quality of Life after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
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Hong Ghi Lee/Hong Ghi Lee
Eun Young Park/Hyun Mee Kim/Kihyun Kim/Won Seog Kim/Sung Soo Yoon/Won Ki Kang/Keun Chil Park/Chan Hyung Park
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Abstract
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Background: The quality of sexuality is significantly affected by physical changes following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and the dissatisfied and/or dysfunctional sexuality may cause deterioration in the quality of life (QOL).
Methods: With two models of questionnaires, we interviewed thirty-eight patients who remained in the disease-free status after HSCT and had sex partners, to assess: 1) the changes in sexuality, 2) QOL in physical, psychological, social and spiritual domains and 3) the correlation between sexuality and QOL.
Results: The common physical changes that may affect sexuality in women were secondary amenorrhea (69.2%), loss of sexual interest (53.8%), diminished vaginal secretion (50%), menopausal syndrome (34.6%), dyspareunia (30.8%) and failure to orgasm (23.1%), while men complained of impotence (41.7%) and difficulty in ejaculation (16.7%). For sexuality, satisfaction of sexual activity, attainment of orgasm and frequency of intercourse decreased significantly after HSCT as compared with the pre-transpiant levels. A score measuring QOL after HSCT marked 5.91 on a full score of 10; social domain ranked the lowest (5.01) while physical domain the highest (6.70). Among the items of sexuality, only sexual desire was significantly correlated with QOL: satisfaction, orgasm and frequency were not significantly correlated with QOL.
Conclusion: Although sexuality is affected by the physical changes following HSCT, we should not overlook the psychological and social effects on the sexuality of post-transplant patients. Therefore, educational and counseling programs are very important to restore and improve their sexuality.
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KEYWORD
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Sexuality, Quality of life, Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation,
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